Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1896 — STOLE AN ELEPHANT. [ARTICLE]

STOLE AN ELEPHANT.

Queer Notions Which Sometimes Beset Thieves. Now and then K happens, says the “Amusing Journal,” that a genius In crime who considers the ordinary robbery unworthy of his abilities, and therefore he goes in for removing articals of an extraordinary nature. For example, take the man who stole coffee stall, replete with urns, cups and saucers, plates, knives And forks, and spoons, and a good supply of comestibles, ranging from shop eggs to lumps of cukes, cut with mathematical precision. The stall stood before Its owner’s borne, and behind some old railings of Iron and wood. The full audacity of the robbery will be realized on learning that the thief did not take down the railings or even wait for a suitable time. He Just selected a moment when the proprietor was out of the way, and then took out the stall at 6 o’clock in the evening, just as its owner was in ttie habit of doing when about to set up l«ls travelling coffee shop near a large gas factory a mile or two off. The perpetrator of this extraordinary robbery was detected through the agency of a friend of the rati proprietor who partook of refreshments at the stall.

Quite recently there have been two or three cases recorded In the papers of cab stealing; this we can quite understand, for a horse and cab Is a nice little property, wherewith one eft® earn a decent living. But what slut 11 be said of a mun who stole an elephant? This mine elephant escaped from a circus procession that was wending Its way through the streets of a suburb of Liverpool. The great animal wandered for many wiles nnd eventually stopped at a farm, the proprietor whereof promptly annexed the valuable brute, and was foolish enough to sell It to the next circus proprietor that chanced to lie In the vicinity. The farmer’s raison for getIng rid of the elephant was the prodigious quantity of food the animal eousuined. We need liardly say that the Whole silly proceedings ended In the conviction of the farmer, though he got off with three month’s Imprisonment There are at least two eases on record of a man stealing a house. One of them' was a portable corrugated Iron structure, which mu on wheels and belonged jto a great contractor, whoso manager used It as a pay ls>x, while the other was an ordinary semi-detached suburban residence. How could such a house be stolen? Well, the alleged thief simply took isissesslon of It, put himself In a state of siege, and then set the real owner at defiance. After a long and most exasperating course of law proceedings the rail owner recovcrcd Ills house uud the claimant was dislodged. Horses and vans have l>een stolen, of course; so have whole houses of furniture, If we may use the term. The latter unique robbery Is worked In this way: A householder going abroad will porlinps warehouse hls furniture at some well-known repository, und the thieves will contrive to Impersonate him, and In many cases got possession of the whole of his household goods.